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At AfriSam, we assume a responsible attitude towards the impact of our actions on the community and environment and utilise natural resources in a deliberated way, thereby sustaining life for future generations.
We published our first environmental policy in 1994 and are a Corporate Member of a number of environmental organizations.
Our policy commits us to sustainable development, which includes legal compliance, the optimal use of resources, waste reduction, reduced use of fossil fuels, the minimization of environmental degradation and pollution as well as employee training and stakeholder engagement on environmental issues.
Our in-house environmental team reviews the policy and the programmes three times annually to ensure that we are actually doing what we say we are doing and that it complies with international best practice.
We have spent in excess of R500 million on environmental stewardship initiatives in the last six years and were the first southern African producer to install sophisticated plant equipment to reduce emissions.
Between 1990 and 2006, we managed to reduce specific CO2 emissions per ton of cement by more than 34%, despite increasing cement production by 54% over the same period.
We have installed various equipment at our operations to improve and reduce electrical consumption and have improved our electrical consumption by a dramatic 37 per cent between 2000 and 2008. This translates into around 860 000 tons less CO2 produced in electricity generation alone.
The reduction of our Carbon Footprint is a vitally important environmental target for AfriSam and we are the industry leader in emission control and energy efficiency.
As far back as 2000, we implemented the Project Green Cement. Green Cement uses extenders such as AfriSam Slagment, fly ash and limestone to reduce the clinker factor in the cement.
The selected use of these products has allowed significant reductions in the clinker factor without compromising cement quality or workability, durability and density.
We have installed a number of blending plants to increase our use of these mineral component by-products and have successfully reduced our Carbon Footprint and energy consumption dramatically in the process.
At the end of 2009, we introduced a ‘CO2’ rating system on all of our cement products which indicates the Carbon Footprint of each product relative to the world average as calculated by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development. We now print this on each and every bag to enable consumers to make informed and responsible decisions on the products they purchase.
We have also just completed a process to assess the ongoing Carbon Footprints of each and every one of our 40 readymix concrete operations as well as our 16 quarries and aggregate processing plants. This we believe is also a world first in the industry.
All our mining Environmental Management plans include final closure options and in 1996 we established a Trust Fund to ensure sufficient funding for necessary rehabilitation on mine closure.
With the increasing environmental awareness of our customers, we not only offer quality products but customer peace of mind through our commitment to sound environmental stewardship.
Click here for a detailed report or our environmental initiatives.
Environmental brochure (pdf 590kb)
Environmental policy (pdf 3mb)
Press releases
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